The Raven's Shadow: Ami Ikari
by Raven Pika
Summary: Raven meets a new foe.


The stars blinked coldly in the night sky. The dark figure stood braced against the night wind, poised upon a rocky outcrop. Below the desert stretched out endlessly.   
  
Glancing up at the stars, Raven thought silently. It feels like I've been fighting forever. They're beautiful tonight .. but they bring me no comfort.  
  
"Do you see them, Shadow? The stars?"   
  
"Rrrr .." Yes, Raven ..I see them. But they bring me no comfort.  
  
"It's clear ..Van must be eliminated if I'm to know peace." Raven frowned. The next time Van and I meet, one of us will die.  
  
The stars continued to blink coldly in the dark sky above.  
******  
Raven piloted his Geno Breaker silently. The desert sun was almost to rise, and the rosy glow made the Geno's armor even more blood-stained. Shadow flew above, and in the dawn light it was hard to tell which was the true shadow of the other. Raven, with dark hair and blue eyes, a human copy of his dark organoid. Shadow, following like any shadow will.  
  
Raven was troubled.   
"Stay away from me until the time comes for battle Shadow."  
  
Shadow flew on silently. Time had passed on these two, and Shadow knew how much Raven hated Zoids. Shadow hated them as well, even if he was one.  
  
Raven was troubled.  
The memories Riise had unlocked in him served to further his hate towards Zoids. His hate towards ..  
He frowned deeper.  
Prozen. Prozen wished him to carry out his demands. What did he owe Prozen? ..Nothing. So why was he forced to do his bidding ..he was stronger than Prozen now. Much stronger. But freedom. Freedom from serving Prozen ..was sweeter than any. A freedom that he would only have if he defeated Van Flyheight...  
  
  
The boy was standing alone watching the stars. His father walked up and smiled.  
"The stars look so close I feel like I could touch them." The boy said, and smiled back.  
  
His father laughed a little.  
"How about when we finish working on this Organoid, us all going on a holiday together?"  
  
"Yeah!!" The boy shouted and laughed, spinning around under the night sky. It had been so long since his parents had time for them all to have fun. His father smiled again, and turned to go back inside their house. The boy heard his mother shout excitedly that the organoid capsule was opening. His father ran towards the house, as the boy turned to look at the stars once more.  
  
Screams. And a loud crash. The boy's expression turned from wonder to fear, and he ran silently into his house. A black organoid stood over his prone parents, growling and threatening.   
Tears sprang to the boy's eyes at the sight of his battered parents lying on the floor.  
"You didn't .."  
In the shadows, a figure of a man slid silently away, followed by the glimpse of an organoid...  
***  
Raven's eyes, soft a minute ago, hardened as he shoved this memory from his mind. His parents ..he knew. He knew they were killed because of the organoid. Yes, it killed them.  
And he remembered Prozen.  
***  
  
The boy raised the gun towards the white-haired man.   
"You're pretty cocky. But you can't shoot with the safety on." The man leapt out of the vehicle he was in and approached the dark-haired boy.   
The boy shrank beneath the man's gaze.  
"What is your name, boy?"  
The boy was silent.  
"In that case, I'll call you Raven. Your black hair made me think of it, but it suits you."   
And Raven he became.  
****  
Raven remembered his mother, his father. He remembered them. He hated ..  
Prozen. He took him and trained him to be a slave.   
***  
"You are in the presence of the Dark Kaiser .."  
Hiilz and Riise ..kneeling before a misshapen monster. Gunther Prozen, he'd returned. Raven was horrified.  
"I won't answer to you! I'm free!" He shouted and turned his heel on the Dark Kaiser, Shadow trailing him.  
***  
The sun was up. Raven squinted, either from the sunlight, or to stop the flow of tears.  
"But I'm free .."  
He took one hand off the controller and rubbed his eyes roughly. No. Tears are for the weak. Weaklings like Van Flyheight. If I am to be free ..Van must die.  
  
Ami Ikari sped through the desert in her Liger Zero X. The blue and gold armor glistened in the red rays of the dawn. Running alongside was her golden organoid, Eclipse.   
  
"No sign of him yet, Eclipse... " Ami said aloud, although Eclipse would not hear it all the way outside the Zoid. Eclipse read it in her mind instead.  
  
"Rrrr." And Eclipse's eyes shone a dark Hazel.  
  
Ami was a close match to her organoid. She was dark blonde with hazel eyes. Ami was in the Emperial Army, but used for more specific purposes. And her purpose now was to track down Raven.   
****  
  
Ami peered at her tactics screen. The scan for Raven's GenoBreaker showed trace charged particles in a very distinct trail. Secretly she thanked the Empirial special intelligence unit for providing the data she needed to track him. It was imperative that she find Raven before he found ..  
  
A call came in.   
"Ami Ikari, this is Colonel Schubaltz of the Emperial Army, Guardian Force Oversee Unit. What is your position?"  
  
"Colonel Schubaltz, this is Lieutenant Ikari speaking. I am 20 miles west of the Helic Capital and traveling at 200 Kilometers per hour. Currently following the particle trail of Raven, and closing. Should encounter Raven within the hour."   
  
"Good job Lieutenant. I have one more thing to add to your orders. When you find Raven, you must at all cost disable the GenoBreaker, and return him and Shadow to the Emperial Army. We await your report." The screen and Colonel Schubaltz's image disappeared, leaving the open desert to fill the tactics screen.   
  
Ami was worried. Originally her orders had only been to find Raven, and follow him. She was to use her skills to prevent him from further destruction of Republican bases, and to find out who, if anyone, was giving him orders to destroy them. Now she was to attempt to fight the GenoBreaker head on? It was suicide for a pilot to attempt that. To fight a bio-machine Zoid that rivaled the Death Saurer in power and a pilot whose skill rivaled none. Even with her own skill, and her Liger Zero X ..and Eclipse, Ami doubted she would complete the mission ..let alone return from it alive.  
  
  
"RRrrrr....."   
  
"What is it Shadow? Someone's trailing us? Now who could that be." Raven switched on his tactics screen and peered at the red blip that was closing fast from the South.   
  
"Interesting. It's a Liger-type zoid, Shadow. It isn't Van though. And what's even stranger, it's a Liger-type I don't recognize. There's an organoid as well. Shadow, you stop here and intercept the Zoid. I don't have time for this, whoever that is. I'll wait for you at the ruins up ahead. Don't mess up."  
  
Shadow landed in the hot sand and crouched, awaiting the Liger. Shadow loved the special privilege of destroying Zoids Raven allowed him to. After all, he hated Zoids as much as Raven did.   
  
The GenoBreaker sped on. Raven wasn't worried, but he was angry. Someone was trying to keep him on a tight leash. There was nothing Raven hated more than lack of freedom. Unless it were Zoids.  
  
"Look, Eclipse ..it's Shadow.." Ami knew Shadow's reputation.   
  
Eclipse ran ahead of Ami's Liger, on a direct intercept course with Shadow.   
  
"No, Eclipse, wait!" Ami desperately moved the throttle up on the Liger's speed.  
  
Eclipse stopped short of Shadow, and roared. Extending her wings, she thrashed her tail. Shadow retaliated by running straight at Eclipse and biting down hard on her neck. Eclipse shook free and backed off a short distance. The Liger reached the scene. It smashed down a paw at Shadow, causing him to take flight.   
  
"Eclipse!" Ami hardly had to call for her, as Eclipse had already flown into the air, and dived into the Liger. A second later, the Liger Zero X shown golden, as it's gear joints went into highspeed. With a defiant roar, the turbines on it's back began to spin. Two large golden blades aimed at Shadow in the sky and shot forth an electric blast. The sand flew up beneath the Liger's paws, and Shadow was engulfed in blinding light. Frozen in space, Shadow fell to the sand in a cloud of dust. The cockpit opened on the Liger, and Ami leapt out. Walking slowly towards Shadow, she peered at his prone form.   
"Good. He's not harmed. Bu he won't be going anywhere soon. Eclipse, bring the electro-net. We don't want him disappearing before we find Raven."   
  
Shadow's eyes glowed blue, and he turned his head on the sand to watch Ami as she gathered the net. Suddenly he roared and just as he prepared to spring Ami threw the net over him. Shadow tried to shake it off, and electrical sparks traveled the length of his body. He stopped and growled meaningfully. Eclipse returned it.  
  
"Quiet Shadow. I need you in order to catch Raven."  
  
Deeper in the desert, Raven heard Shadow's roar in his mind and knew something was wrong. Frowning, he turned the GenoBreaker around.   
  
"Shadow, you're useless!" 


End file.
